St. Pulcheria

Empress of the Eastern Roman Empire,
eldest daughter of the Emperor Arcadius, b. 19 Jan., 399; d. in
453. After the death of Arcadius (408), her younger brother,
Theodosius II, then only seven, became emperor under the
guardianship of Anthimus. Pulcheria had matured early and had
great administrative ability; she soon exerted salutary influence
over the young and not very capable emperor. On 4 July, 414, she
was proclaimed Augusta (empress) by the Senate, and made regent
for her brother. She made a vow of virginity and persuaded her
sisters to do the same, the imperial palace thus becoming almost a
monastery (Socrates, "Hist. eccl.", VII, xxii). At the
same time she fulfilled all her duties as a ruler for about ten
years jointly with her brother. After the marriage, brought about
by Pulcheria, of Theodosius II with Eudoxia, the new empress
sought to weaken Pulcheria's influence over the emperor, and, with
the aid of some courtiers, succeeded for a time. Nevertheless,
Pulcheria had always a powerful position at Court, which she used
in behalf of ecclesiastical orthodoxy, as shown by her opposition
to the doctines of Nestorius and Eutyches. Eudoxia supported
Nestorius. St. Cyril of Alexandria sent Pulcheria his work, "De
fide ad Pulcheriam", and wrote her on behalf of the true
Church doctrine, to which she held unwaveringly (letter of Cyril
in Mansi, "Concil. coll.", IV, 618 sqq.). He also wrote
to Eudoxia (ibid., 679 sq.). Theodosius allowed himself to be
influenced by Nestorius to the prejudice of Cyril, whom he blamed
for appealing to the two empresses (ibid., 1110). Pulcheria,
however, was not deterred from her determination to work against
Nestorius and to persuade the emperor to espouse Cyril's party
which favoured the definition of the Council of Ephesus. In the
further course of the negotiations over the Council of Ephesus,
the Patriarch of Alexandria sought to gain Pulcheria's zeal and
influence for the union and sent her presents as he did to other
influential persons at the Court (Mansi, loc. cit., V, 987 sq.).
There is no doubt that the final acknowledgement by the emperor of
the condemnation of Nestorius was largely due to Pulcheria. The
Nestorians, consequently, spread gross calumnies about her
(Suidas, s. v. Pulcheria). Court intrigues obliged her (446) to
leave the imperial palace and retire to a suburb of
Constantinople, where she led a monastic life. When the Empress
Eudoxia went to Jerusalem, Pulcheria returned (about 449) to
Court. At the emperor's death (28 July, 450) she was proclaimed
empress, and then married the able general, Marcian, but with the
condition that her vow of virginity should be respected. At her
order Marcian was proclaimed Augustus.

Meantime, at Constantinople, Eutyches
had announced his heresy of the unity of the natures in Christ,
and the Patriarch Flavian had expressed his opposition, as did
also Pope Leo I. Once more Pulcheria took up the cause of the
Church. On 13 June, 449, the pope had written both to Pulcheria
and to Theodosius, requesting them to end the new heresy ("Leonis
epist.", xxx, in Migne, LVI, 785 sq.). Nine other letters
followed. Theodosius II confirmed the decisions of the Robber
Synod of Ephesus (449) and the pope, who had rejected them, sought
to bring the emperor back to orthodox opinions. On 13 Oct., 449,
he wrote again to the emperor and also to Pulcheria (Epist. xlv),
begging the latter for aid. The Roman Archdeacon Hilarius also
wrote with the same object (Epist. xlvi in "Leonis Epist."),
and at Leo's entreaty Valentinian III of the Western Empire, with
Eudoxia and Galla Placidia, wrote to Theodosius and Pulcheria
(Epist. lviii). Another letter to Pulcheria was sent by Leo on 16
July, 450 (Epist. lxx). After the death of Theodosius, conditions
were at once changed. Marcian and Pulcheria wrote to Leo (Epist.
lxxvii). She informed him that the Patriarch Anatolius had
expressed his approbation and had signed the papal letter to
Flavian concerning the two natures in Christ. She requested the
pope to let it be known whether he would attend personally the
council that had been summoned. The empress was influential in the
Council of Chalcedon (451) and with the emperor attended the sixth
session (25 Oct., 451). Leo in his letter of 13 April, 451 (Epist.
lxxix), wrote Pulcheria that both the Nestorian and Eutychian
heresies had been overcome largely by her efforts. He thanked her
for the benefits she had bestowed on the Church, for her support
of the papal legates, for the recall of the banished Catholic
bishops, and for the honourable burial of the body of the
Patriarch Flavius. Pulcheria showed no less zeal in promoting
other interests of the Church. She built three churches in
Constantinople in honour of Mary the Mother of God; one, erected
after the condemnation of the Nestorian heresy, was exceedingly
beautiful. In other places also she built churches , hospitals,
houses for pilgrims, and gave rich gifts to various churches
(Sozomen, 'Hist. eccl.", IX, i). She had the bones of St.
John Chrysostom, who had died in exile, brought back to
Constantinople and buried in the church of the Apostles on 27
Jan., 438; this led to the reconciliation with the Church of the
schismatic party of the Johannines (Socrates, "Hist. eccl.",
VII, xlv). Pulcheria had the relics of the forty martyrs of
Sebaste, which were found near Constantinople, transferred to a
church (Sozomen, "Hist. eccl.", IX, ii). She is
venerated as a saint in the Greek and other Oriental Churches as
well as in the Latin Church. Her feast is given under 10 Sept. in
the Roman Martyrology and in the Greek Menaia; in the other
Oriental calendars it is under 7 Aug.